IOOF’s record profit
Financial services group IOOF has attributed much of its record profit for the past financial year to “adviser-driven growth” in its flagship platforms.
The company announced to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) today a 62 per cent increase in underlying net profit after tax of $97.2 million, which managing director Chris Kelaher said illustrated the company’s ability to grow its business even when markets were volatile.
Kelaher also claimed that the result reflected the benefits of the company’s so-called “business simplification” program – following its merger with Australian Wealth Management and acquisition of Australian Skandia – which had involved consolidation of multi-manager offerings and a reduction in platform administration systems.
The strong result has come at the same time as IOOF has emerged as a central player in National Australia Bank’s bid for AXA Asia Pacific, with IOOF having been named as the destination for AXA’s North Platform if the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission agrees to the divestment proposal.
Looking over the horizon, Kelaher said that while prevailing market conditions made it difficult to accurately forecast a future result, IOOF expected to report an improvement in profitability for the first half of the 2010-11 financial year.
Kelaher did not reference the issues surrounding the North Platform divestment in his formal comments to the ASX.
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